Chapter 7 - The vital years

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The vital years	265

  Yet almost 100 years later we've found only two early-childhood centers that combine nearly all the key principles outlined in this chapter. The first is Montessori International in the sparsely-populated American state of Montana.44 No ludicrous arguments there about which method of teaching English is more important: phonics or "whole language". Their children learn by both methods: Montessori, Doman - whatever works. And they learn them early. They know that the sounds of English can be written in 70 different letter-combinations, so they play games with those sounds and combinations.
  They know that the main steps to fluent writing include dozens of pre-writing activities, so their children get plenty of practice in those steps. They know that music and rhythm are essential to learning, so those, too, are key ingredients of a balanced program. They know that physical routines, based on the Doman-Palmer-Hartigan approach, are vital for brain development, so their youngsters go through them each day.
  Before starting grade one, every one of the children can speak confidently, read fluently, write well, construct stories, spell, count, add, subtract and multiply.*
  In England, too, the Montessori movement is showing the way in early-childhood development - a movement driven by the energetic head of the London Montessori Center, Lesley Britton. The Montessori Farm School, run by South African-born Helen Watkins, in Bracknell, Berkshire, is one of the best in Britain.45 But Britain overall shares with the United States one of the developed world's worst records for early-childhood education.
  In New Zealand 82 percent of all three and four-year-olds are in early childhood education programs, and the government's stated aim is to lift this total to 95 per cent by 2001.46 Many European countries have similar high percentages of children in preschool centers. But America's overall performance in early childhood education is appalling. In California, for

* There are now about 6,000 different preschools and schools in the United States operating under the "Montessori banner" but most do not follow the Montana model. Montessori International, for instance, follows the Doman philosophy of introducing reading much earlier than Maria Montessori recommended, and certainly much earlier than schools that follow the Piaget model (see comparisons opposite). Montessori International is also part of a religious community. And while neither the current authors would claim sufficient expertise to comment on the community's religious philosophy, its approach to learning is superb.

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